1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to food storage containers and, more particularly, to a food storage container that is shaped to generally depict a food item that can be stored therein and that is structured to resist crushing of the food item.
2. Background Information
Numerous types of food storage containers are known in the relevant art. Such food storage devices are generally intended to protect a food item or a quantity of food from the deleterious effects of the environment in which the food is placed.
For instance, a bowl-shaped food storage container with a sealable cover may be employed by a user to store therein a quantity of food that may be sticky, such as pudding, or may be of a granular nature, such as peas. In such an application, the food storage container retains the food therein so that, for instance, peas are not rolling around within the interior of a refrigerator. The sealable cover of the food storage container typically may be configured to provide a substantially airtight seal to resist contamination of the food from external sources and to resist dehydration of the food that naturally occurs within a refrigerator.
Food storage containers can be of numerous shapes that are generally suited to different purposes. For instance, some food storage containers are bowl shaped to facilitate the storage and subsequent use of liquid food items. Alternatively, food storage containers may be generally wide, flat, and of a relatively short height in order to store therein generally flat and solid food items, with the relatively short height of the food container facilitating loading into a refrigerator. Other food storage containers may be of a generally cylindrical shape for general storage purposes.
Special storage problems are encountered when it is desired to protect a piece of fresh fruit when transported from one location to another, such as when one carries a piece of fresh fruit from home for consumption during lunch at work, school, and the like. While the piece of fresh fruit may be placed into a known food storage container, most food storage containers that would be sized large enough to accommodate the piece of fresh fruit therein generally are substantially larger than the piece of fresh fruit, thus wasting space within the cramped confines of a briefcase, knapsack, and the like that may be carried from the home to the office or school. Moreover, the piece of fresh fruit disposed within a substantially larger food storage container often will tend to roll or bounce within the food storage container, thus resulting in bruising and other damage to the piece of fresh fruit.
A need thus exists for a protective food storage container that is configured to accommodate a piece of fresh fruit therein and that is configured to resist damaging the piece of fresh fruit. In this regard, it would be preferable to configure the food storage device to closely match the general shape of the piece of fresh fruit in order to minimize bouncing of the piece of fruit within the storage container and consequent bruising thereof, as well as to minimize the space occupied by the food storage container within a briefcase or knapsack. Such a food storage container would also preferably be easy to open, close, and generally use. In this regard, the protective food storage container preferably will include structures or surfaces that can be easily grasped or otherwise manually engaged to permit easy opening of the food storage container, even if the user's fingertips are covered with oils or other substances that may be expected to be on a user's fingers during the course of a meal. Moreover, such a food storage container may preferably include a connection member extending between and connecting together the separate or detachable parts of the food storage container. Such a protective food storage container will preferably also be structured to generally depict the food item carried therein.
It is desired that such a protective food storage container be configured to protect the food item therein, such as a piece of fresh fruit, from damage due to bruising as well as due to environmental effects. Depending upon the specific food item that is to be stored in the protective food storage container, it may be preferable for the food storage container to be configured to bend to accommodate food items of different shapes and sizes yet protect the food item from bruising. Such a protective food storage device may be formed with one or more corrugations for such purpose.